PHOENIX, Arizona, October 4. THE United States has a strong roster in place for the team attending the short course world championships in Istanbul in December. On the women's side, Allison Schmitt will be the biggest star, coming off five medals in the London Olympics. Schmitt will swim the 200 and 400 free, and could be a part of all three relays, as she was in London. Also on the roster is Georgia teammate Megan Romano, who performed very well at the US Open after missing out on a spot on the Olympic team, and Jessica Hardy, who has the world record in short course in the 50 breast.

Ryan Lochte won seven medals at the 2010 short course worlds, and could repeat that again, swimming six individual events to go along with likely relay duty. Lochte is staying true to his post-Olympic comments and will not be doing the 400 IM, despite winning that event in 2010. Matt Grevers, the reigning Olympic champion in the 100 back, will also swim in Istanbul, as will Anthony Ervin, who will be coming off an eight-meet trip on the FINA World Cup circuit.

Yesterday afternoon Berkeley announced a surprising addition to its coaching staff, naming Yuri Suguiyama to the roster. Suguiyama was the driving force behind 15-year-old Katie Ledecky's gold medal in the 800 freestyle at the London Olympics, and has been her coach for a few years. Now, he's moving cross-country to help the distance program at Cal get on par with its great sprint legacy. No word yet on who will replace Suguiyama at Nation's Capital Swim Club.